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Speaking to MMA Fighting on Tuesday, nine days after UFC Moscow, Dollaway said that he was healthy and fortunate to suffer no lingering damage from the late stoppage, but he still couldn’t help but wonder what Dean was thinking
“I’ve been on the other side before, where I thought a fight got stopped too early for me. But, being on the other side now, it’s like — it’s a rough job being a ref, they want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time, you’re there to protect us, and I don’t know what was going on, but I don’t feel like I got protected,” Dollaway told MMA Fighting. “He didn’t stop the fight. Ever. Like, he was telling me to get on the stool and I didn’t even want to fight. Like, ‘Dude, I’m done.’ I was pretty out of it. I’m going to go out and take more punishment, that’s all that was going to basically happen at that point. I understand being a referee’s a tough job, we all make mistakes in life. It just sucks when it’s you.”
Dollaway, 35, is a longtime veteran of the UFC, having competed under the company’s umbrella for over a decade. He said the late stoppage was simply the culmination of a week at UFC Moscow that was “by far the weirdest” fight week he’s ever experienced, but it was Dean’s hesitance to stop the fight after the second round that stuck with Dollaway the most.
“He was telling me to get on the stool,” Dollaway said. “That’s kinda the part, I guess, I have a little trouble with. When a fighter says they’re done, especially — I don’t really have to say much, the MMA community saw it, you saw it, people saw what happened, and then you have me saying I’m done, and for him to be telling me to get up off the stool, I don’t know. Thank God I knew enough was enough, or it could’ve been even more serious.
“At the end of the day, I know the risks we go in there with, but it does make me question what you’re doing. Like, for the amount of money we’re getting paid — we’re not making millions of dollars. But it’s a sport that you love. Usually [Dean] is a good ref, from what I’ve seen. I haven’t watched every single one of his fights. I don’t know, I’ve heard complaints about him, [things] other people are saying. But I don’t know, it just sucks when it’s you. That’s your health. I have a five-year-old daughter. I want to be able to always know what’s going on and not be that out of it when I’m done with this career. It just is scary to know that, yeah, if there was two minutes left, what’s that look like then?
“Like, how far [does it go]? That’s the thing, they want to give you the benefit of the doubt, try to get you to the end of the round or the fighters a chance, but there’s a catch 22. He stops it too early, everyone dogs him for that. Stop it too late, everyone dogs him for that. So it’s just not an easy job, but that is your f*cking job. At the end of the day, that’s your job. You’re the one who took that job, and the same goes for me. I know what it is when I go in there. We’re not playing patty-cake. It’s a dangerous job and, yeah, unfortunately I got a pretty good taste of what it could be.”
Dollaway said he hasn’t spoken to Dean or a commission official since the controversial end to his fight and that Dean has not reached out to him.
“It’s a tough job. I understand it. You get criticism from both sides. Like I said, you stop it too early, you get criticized, you stop it too late. And I’ve had fights that I thought were stopped too early and protested, but the ref needs to say, ‘F*ck you, I’m here to protect you,’ basically. Like, ‘Shut up.’ But like I said, it’s a cold game that we play.”
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“I’ve been on the other side before, where I thought a fight got stopped too early for me. But, being on the other side now, it’s like — it’s a rough job being a ref, they want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time, you’re there to protect us, and I don’t know what was going on, but I don’t feel like I got protected,” Dollaway told MMA Fighting. “He didn’t stop the fight. Ever. Like, he was telling me to get on the stool and I didn’t even want to fight. Like, ‘Dude, I’m done.’ I was pretty out of it. I’m going to go out and take more punishment, that’s all that was going to basically happen at that point. I understand being a referee’s a tough job, we all make mistakes in life. It just sucks when it’s you.”
Dollaway, 35, is a longtime veteran of the UFC, having competed under the company’s umbrella for over a decade. He said the late stoppage was simply the culmination of a week at UFC Moscow that was “by far the weirdest” fight week he’s ever experienced, but it was Dean’s hesitance to stop the fight after the second round that stuck with Dollaway the most.
“He was telling me to get on the stool,” Dollaway said. “That’s kinda the part, I guess, I have a little trouble with. When a fighter says they’re done, especially — I don’t really have to say much, the MMA community saw it, you saw it, people saw what happened, and then you have me saying I’m done, and for him to be telling me to get up off the stool, I don’t know. Thank God I knew enough was enough, or it could’ve been even more serious.
“At the end of the day, I know the risks we go in there with, but it does make me question what you’re doing. Like, for the amount of money we’re getting paid — we’re not making millions of dollars. But it’s a sport that you love. Usually [Dean] is a good ref, from what I’ve seen. I haven’t watched every single one of his fights. I don’t know, I’ve heard complaints about him, [things] other people are saying. But I don’t know, it just sucks when it’s you. That’s your health. I have a five-year-old daughter. I want to be able to always know what’s going on and not be that out of it when I’m done with this career. It just is scary to know that, yeah, if there was two minutes left, what’s that look like then?
“Like, how far [does it go]? That’s the thing, they want to give you the benefit of the doubt, try to get you to the end of the round or the fighters a chance, but there’s a catch 22. He stops it too early, everyone dogs him for that. Stop it too late, everyone dogs him for that. So it’s just not an easy job, but that is your f*cking job. At the end of the day, that’s your job. You’re the one who took that job, and the same goes for me. I know what it is when I go in there. We’re not playing patty-cake. It’s a dangerous job and, yeah, unfortunately I got a pretty good taste of what it could be.”
Dollaway said he hasn’t spoken to Dean or a commission official since the controversial end to his fight and that Dean has not reached out to him.
“It’s a tough job. I understand it. You get criticism from both sides. Like I said, you stop it too early, you get criticized, you stop it too late. And I’ve had fights that I thought were stopped too early and protested, but the ref needs to say, ‘F*ck you, I’m here to protect you,’ basically. Like, ‘Shut up.’ But like I said, it’s a cold game that we play.”
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